


How to Say I Love You

by smallenoughtofit



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, all sweetness, cuteness, post-redemption, this is just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-09-23 00:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9630824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallenoughtofit/pseuds/smallenoughtofit
Summary: Just fluff, really. Just different ways to say "I love you".





	1. As a Hello (Kylo Ren/Rey)

Rey shuffled anxiously at the terminal, waiting anxiously. She hadn’t seen Ben in nine weeks and she missed him rather terribly. She had no idea how anyone in the Resistance managed to maintain a relationship over the different missions. She’d been gone for nearly a month and then Ben had been shipped out to some distant rebel stronghold four days before she was supposed to get back. This had left them with more than two months of separation. At least Poe could take Finn with him on some missions. Finn was a good gunner and the pair worked well together. Rey and Ben were 2/3 of the known Jedi in the galaxy. The strategy when it came to them tended to be more of a “divide and conquer”.

Rey rubbed her hands together, thinking of the upgrades to the Falcon she could show Ben. She’d spent more of the past three days anxiously waiting for Ben to return and passing the time by meditating and finalizing repairs to the Falcon. Chewbacca had been a saint, giving her the support she needed while allowing her the room to get lost in her work and putting up with her tense emotions. She tended to get a little short when Ben was away in dangerous areas for long periods of time. Although Rey knew Ben was a capable Jedi who could take care of himself, she still hated seeing him get on those ships. She knew better than anyone that the galaxy was pretty dangerous and anything could happen.

“What’s the ETA?” a voice asked behind Rey. She whirled around and was greeted by Finn, who leaned against the railing and watched her.

“1500” Rey said, gripping the railing and leaning back, stretching her arms.

“You’ve only got to wait another few minutes,” Finn said, looking at her. His dark eyes glittered with an amusement that made her feel like an over-excited child. However, she was too anxious to feel any real embarrassment about that. Finn put a hand on hers, smiling kindly at her. He found her and Ben’s relationship to be amusing now, although he still had scars from Ben’s saber battle three years ago.

Rey sighed and watched the landing bay doors carefully for another second, then looked at Finn’s hand on hers. Their skin contrasted, but she knew he understood her better than almost anyone. Although he would never understand what it was to feel the approach of the Force signature of the person you loved, he did understand this. He understood waiting for your heart to return to you.

“Do you want to talk to distract yourself or do you just want me to wait with you?” Finn asked.

“I’ll just wait alone.” Rey said, looking over at him and smiling, “Thanks for trying, but it’s 14:56. I’m not going to be able to hold a good conversation.”

“I get that.” Finn said, leaning over and kissing her cheek before slipping past her to continue with whatever task he had been doing before. Rey leaned against the railing again, glancing at her hands out of anxiety and boredom. She looked at her timekeeper. The entire rebellion was set to Coruscant standard time and she’d found herself meticulously triple-checking that hers was on time. She felt Ben’s Force signature suddenly appear, very close, and felt a thrill in the pit of her stomach. She heard the communication from the control room above her viewing platform. Ben’s ship was cleared to land.

Rey heard the warning over the loudspeaker that a ship was arriving and all unnecessary personnel were to remain behind the blue line of the viewing platform. She resisted the urge to hop up and down as the large lading bay doors opened allowing Ben’s ship back inside. She knew she actually had to wait for it to land and upload, but she was tempted to jump over the railing anyway. She ship finally landed and she heard the click of the gate which meant she was clear to go onto the floor. Rey opened the gate and climbed to the landing floor below. Ben’s ship was already being unloaded. There appeared to have been a few injuries because she lost Ben in a shuffle of med personnel and weapons techs and host of other people. She scanned the crowd disembarking, unable to see him. She could feel him close by, but was afraid he was among the injured.

Rey nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She felt Ben Solo’s warm cheek against hers as he hugged her from behind, “I love you.” He said, greeting her with a kiss on the head. Rey turned in his grasp and hugged him again, smiling into the dark material of his uniform. 

“I love you.” Rey said back, feeling like she was home for the first time in weeks.


	2. Over a Cup of Tea (Programmer-Barista AU) (Kylo Ren/Rey)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern quasi-coffeeshop Reylo Au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an apology for late updates on "Asunder"

Rey wrapped her cream-colored scarf tighter around her neck, brushing strands of her hair out of her face as she struggled to unlock her apartment door. This was the longest Friday of her life. She’d just closed the coffee shop for the third day this week. She was going to kill her boss one of these days. She hadn’t even been on the schedule to work today. Rey shouldered the door open, huffing at the sticky hinges. She dropped her bag by the door, shrugged off her coat and scarf, and flopped onto the couch.

 

Rey took a deep breath, expecting to smell the cold of an apartment that had been empty all day, but she actually smelled a warm and sweet scent. She sat up on one elbow, looking around the room. On her coffee table, resting on a little blue and white coaster was a hot cup of tea. Rey brushed her hair out of her face and sat up all the way. Who had made the tea? Finn was still out of town, so perhaps a friendly burglar had made her a cup of tea. She actually appreciated this helpful robber. Part of her hoped the burglar was helpful and gone and hadn’t taken anything useful.

 

“Hey, is anyone robbing me?” Rey called out, so exhausted she didn’t care.

 

“No.” A voice called from down the hall. Ben Solo stuck his hair around the corner, waving at her a little sarcastically. Rey flopped back down on the couch, groaning. She’d been seeing Ben Solo for four months, but had forgotten he had a key. He’d offered to water Finn’s plants since Rey didn’t have experience with plants and had killed Finn’s last ones. Ben passed a hand through his hair, walking over to sit on the cheap carpet next to her coffee table. “Long day?” He asked.

 

“I hate my job.” Rey said, tossing one arm out dramatically. “I hate my job and my boss and my empty apartment.”

 

“Wow, Finn goes out of town for four days and you fall apart.” Ben said, chuckling good naturedly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“When does he get back?” Ben asked. Rey turned her head to see an amused glint in his dark eyes.

 

“Ten more days.” Rey said, sighing. “I think I need a cat or something. BB8 lives with Poe, but I miss cat-sitting. Also, if Finn ever moves out, I will become a mess.” She saw something flash behind Ben’s eyes, but didn’t say anything about it. She was too tired to deal with any sort of drama tonight. She sat up and reached for her tea, taking a sip as Ben got up and got his own tea from the kitchen.

 

“How was work?” Rey asked, watching Ben curl his long legs underneath him as he sat on the carpet next to her coffee table again. She felt like she should invite him to sit with her on the couch, but didn’t. She wasn’t normally so numb and withdrawn, but it had been a long night.

 

“Long.” Ben said. He was a programmer for First Order Co., a tech firm that did a lot of private security and organization applications. He didn’t like to talk about what he did and she didn’t press. “We had to cut ties with a private contracting company. It was rough.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Rey said, looking over at him. He looked rather pitiful, sitting on her floor. She sat up and scooted over on the couch to make room for him, brushing her hair out of her face. She watched Ben stand up and sat on the couch next to her. She nudged the remote that was sitting on the coffee table with her foot, “You can turn on the TV, if you want.”

 

“I’m alright.” Ben said, trying to keep his voice casual. He grabbed a book from the backpack he’d brought, sipping on his tea. Rey looked over at him, glad he hadn’t noticed, and found her eyes tracing over his features. Some would call his face disproportionate, with his prominent nose and large, soft mouth, but he really was beautiful, she thought. He was especially attractive at moments like this, when no one was looking and he was engrossed in his work.

 

Rey thought about about him and the fact that he was here. He’d agreed to check up on Finn’s plants, but now she realized he wanted to check in on her too. Rey thought about Ben’s quiet resilience and his emotive nature. He was a sensitive man who seemed to feel everything acutely, even when he struggled not to. He’d asked about her day and shared his willingly. He cared about her and, exhausted as she was, she cared about him. Rey smiled to herself, partially tempted to shift her body closer against his. She decided not to, not wishing to disturb his reading.

 

Ben glanced up at her and caught her watching him. His brown eyes searched her face, but he said nothing and looked back down at his book.

 

“I love you.” Rey said quietly, her lips brushing her cup.

 

Ben’s head snapped up and he turned to look at her. His eyebrows furrowed, “Rey, did you…?”

 

“Just say “I love you”?” Rey asked, setting her cup down, “Yeah, I did. I love you Ben Solo.”

 

“I love you too.” Ben said, his face breaking into a wide smile. This, Rey decided, was the best light to see him in.

**Author's Note:**

> This is because I was late on updating my other fic, Legacy. I'll update from here, because it's all together.


End file.
